News

Vote for the best Sustainability Report

For the second successive year Corporate Register will present the CR Reporting Awards 2008,giving readers the chance to vote for the best sustainability report. Votes can be cast by registering at http://www.corporateregister.com/crra: the winning company will be that which earns the greatest number of votes by 20 January 2009. With its 2007 Sustainability Report, Hera is a candidate in the Best Carbon Disclosure and Credibility Through Assurance categories. To read and evaluate the Hera Sustainability Reporto go to http://eng.gruppohera.it/group/social_responsibility/sustainability_report/

13/11/2008

Tap water takes the plaudits at Ecomondo trade fair

Ecomondo, the international exhibition for the recovery of waste and energy and sustainable development, which took place in Rimini on 5-8 November, has come to an end. Hera participated with CasaHera, a travelling event with interactive activities on energy, a number of renewable energy offers, and above all the Hera2O project, which saw tap water dispensers, with chilled, still and sparkling water, installed in various pavilions of the trade fair and a special area at the “Vetrina della Sostenibilità” (“Window on Sustainability”), the Emilia-Romagna Region stand. On 7 November at this stand, during the presentation of the Hera2O project and the integrated water service in Rimini, the “Vote for the best water” game was a big hit among visitors. Fifty or so people tasted the tap water and 4 of the biggest selling mineral waters on the market, unlabelled on this occasion, voting the tap water as the best. Drinking tap water is a good way of saving money and, above all, a responsible choice for reducing plastic bottles and safeguarding the environment.

The discount is open o companies that work in the municipalities where the decision was taken to move from a tax to rates, and where Hera collects the rates. Where the TIA (Environmental Hygiene Tariff) is not in force, the company has decided to give away little cabinets (44 delivered in total) holding the containers to be used for separate waste collection in a bid to encourage the adoption of good practices.

Increasingly transparent waste-to-energy plants

Since the beginning of 2008 Hera has published online the daily emissions (the previous day’s average values) of all its waste-to-energy plants. An important new development introduced in October now means that the average values recorded in the last 30 minutes are also available for the L3 lines in Rimini, the L3 in Forlì and the L2-L3 in Ferrara. The web page is updated every thirty minutes with the new data transmitted from the detection systems on every waste-to-energy plant. The first plants for which this service was activated were those of Coriano (Rimini), Ferrara and Forlì. Other Group waste-to-energy plants will follow in the next few months. Furthermore, to make the emission data easier to consult by the public, two touch screen work stations will be introduced in the URP and RAB offices in Forlì and Rimini respectively: screens connected to the Internet that will be able to provide information on local waste-to-energy plant data at the touch of a finger.

Hera is the Italian multi-utility that improves every day, with regard to the environment, the quality of its waste management, water and energy services through strong links in the area in which it operates and the capacity for innovation